An experimental approach to the study of human infant's form perception and its development is proposed. The infant preferential looking literature is first discussed and the conclusion drawn that the literature does not provide a general characterization of the state of infant form perception. An alternative approach is proposed which involves measurement of the contrast sensitivity function. The results of preliminary analyses indicate the potential utility of this approach. Several experiments are proposed to develop this line of research. The relative processing capabilities of central and peripheral vision will be traced developmentally. The effects of stimulus intensity and pattern will be quantitatively assessed. The development of feature analysis for size and orientation will be investigated. Furthermore, a set of experiments concerned with the role of early perceptual experience will be conducted. Finally models of infant visual preference will be developed and their predictive validity compared to those of existing models.